


Foundations of Trust

by lazylyz



Series: Fair Game Weekend 2020 [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Forehead Kisses, Hugs, M/M, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Pre-Relationship, because i can't help myself, fairgameweekend2020, outfits/confessions, qrow infodumping, qrow venting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:40:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26424265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazylyz/pseuds/lazylyz
Summary: Not all confessions are romantic because sometimes talking about shit you went through is more important.
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Series: Fair Game Weekend 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1919284
Comments: 14
Kudos: 39





	Foundations of Trust

**Author's Note:**

> Set sometime post dinner scene but instead of shit going down there is some downtime in-between. This turned into Qrow venting because boy has a lot he needs to get off his chest.

“You seem on edge.”

“Literally or figuratively?” Qrow said, glancing over his shoulder back at Clover. He kicked his legs back and forth over the edge of the balcony reminiscent of a child whose legs were too short to reach the floor.

Clover chuckled. He took a seat next to Qrow, bracing his hands behind him and crossing his legs at the ankles. “Could be either, but I think you know which one I’m talking about.”

Qrow remained silent and steadily looked out over Atlas. He felt acutely aware of the contrast between their physical closeness and the chasm of the emotional distance he constructed to protect himself. To bring that wall down willingly and allow himself the moment of vulnerability weighed heavily on his mind more so than the thoughts that had been plaguing him till Clover had interrupted his wallowing.

He closed his eyes and sighed. The crisp breeze did nothing to settle his nerves and calm the discontent inside. It had been years since he allowed himself the chance to pause, to reflect, and now that he was, he didn’t know if he could go through with the process.

Clover shifted beside him. “You don’t have to answer. I just-“

“It’s not that,” Qrow said, interrupting him. “I was just trying to get my thoughts together. Don’t really know how to start.”

Clover nodded and waited in silence while Qrow wrangled his thoughts. The idea of opening up to Clover was freeing in a way. Qrow had not given himself the time to process much, allowing their busy schedule to occupy his thoughts rather than sort out everything that had happened.

Clover had been the one to start this development, though he may not know it, that day in the back of the truck still hung in his mind often. The words of encouragement Clover offered, not pushing aside Qrow’s involvement and support with the kids. Having a peer acknowledge his value certainly boosted his mood in the following days.

“You know that day in the back of the transport truck,” Qrow said, figuring he might as well start there.

“I kept winning at cards,” Clover offered.

Qrow shot him a dirty look, thankful he was keeping the mood light, but took note of the bragging tone, “Yeah yeah, hotshot.”

Clover smiled but didn’t respond to the jibe, letting Qrow gather the steam he needed to continue.

“You know how I said I don’t, uh.” Qrow swallowed thickly. “That I don’t drink anymore.”

Clover nodded.

“It wasn’t actually all that long ago.”

“What do you-”

“I quit on the airship practically before we crash-landed in Mantle,” Qrow said before Clover could ask his question.

Clover raised his eyebrows in Qrow’s direction. “Cold turkey?” He asked.

Qrow scoffed, dropping his shoulders. “Yeah.”

“No wonder you were subdued. That first week must have been hell.”

Qrow ran a hand over his face and pressed under his eyes, relieving the pressure that sat behind his cheekbones. Withdrawal had been hell, the pounding headaches, the shaky and weak grip on his weapon, his off-kilter balance, though already bad from his semblance, was only made worse with the added nausea.

“Yeah,” he said. His usual rasp thick in his throat.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what prompted you to change your mind?”

Qrow knew the question would come the second he decided to open up about his drinking habits. He had thought back on that moment constantly. What had driven him to put the drinking aside as opposed to all the other times? Just saying Ruby was persuasive wasn’t enough right now. He felt like he had to explain everything, at least to help get his thoughts in order.

“For so long, I used drinking as a way to dull the effect of my semblance. I thought if I could just be buzzed, right on the edge of control, that it wouldn’t affect those around me, that I wouldn’t just constantly cause pain to people I cared about.”

Clover shifted, pulling a knee to his chest to rest against, and turned his head towards Qrow with a sorrowful look.

“The drinking got worse when Raven left. The fight took a lot out of all of us, she’s my- she was my sister. I still thought of her as such but not anymore, not after Haven,” he corrected bitterly. He paused in the memory, remembering the feeling when Raven appeared behind Leo. His drinking started long before that betrayal though, but the anger and heartbreak at his own flesh and blood still sat fresh in his mind reminiscent of when she first left.

“I would go on small binges, a weekend here or there, and nobody would know. Summer pointed it out first, and she went to Tai about it. Having him confront me didn’t really go as planned, and Oz conveniently had a long mission for me to do, so I basically ran, just like Raven. When I got back, Summer was pregnant with Ruby. She and Tai had gotten married while I was away, and it hurt a lot knowing they didn’t wait for me, that I had missed out on something with those I consider important to me.

“I dialed back the drinking then, with Yang young and Ruby just getting her feet under her, but then Summer took a mission.” He felt the same familiar dread wash over him. “She… she didn’t come back. Tai fell apart, and the kids had no clue what happened. Suddenly I need to be put together, and I couldn’t be. The drinking got so much worse. All-day every day, and it only continued as the kids got older. By some stroke of luck, they actually let me teach at Signal when Ruby was old enough, and for a little while, I would balance the drinking with being around Tai and the girls.”

“You, a professor?” Clover teased; a soft smile played at the corner of his mouth. His eyes alight with something dangerous that had Qrow double-taking.

“Yeah,” Qrow groused out, “Me, a professor.”

Raising his eyebrows, Clover looked back at him as if pleased with the information, and Qrow felt a flush warming his cheeks.

“Anyways,” Qrow said, clearing his throat. “When Yang went to Beacon, Ruby got attacked by Roman Torchwick, Oz let her in the academy because of how she handled the situation, but he sent me on a wild goose chase since he figured the attack was a distraction. Salem’s goal would always be the maidens.

“He was right, and I confronted three people attacking Amber while shadowing her. That attack kicked off everything that happened at Beacon. The tournament, Ironwood’s tin soldiers, the Grimm. And then Oz was dead, I didn’t really have a direction other than to follow Ruby while keeping an eye out for his next reincarnation.”

“A lot of shit happened on the way. Tyrian for one. Telling the kids everything. Almost dying. And then, Haven itself was somewhat a nightmare.” Qrow paused as he remembered searching through countless job queries, feeling the weight of his missing comrades as each one came up empty. “She killed everyone, Clover. Picked off all the good huntsmen and huntresses I’ve worked with over the years. All their missions are labeled open, and they haven’t returned, but I know. I know, and there’s nothing I can do. All those families…”

“Qrow you know that's not your responsibility nor your fault. It's not your job to protect everyone.”

“Yeah, but I know.” He clutched the fabric of his vest just above his heart. “We know, and maybe Ironwood is right, and telling everyone about Salem is what’ll help, but I’ve carried it for so long and thought I was doing the right thing, but then on the way to Argus…” Qrow took in a stilted breath. He knew it would be building to this point. Ironwood knew now what Ruby had decided to keep secret, so he was sure Clover would know too.

“We fought off a pack of manticore and a sphinx apparently they were attracted to the relic. Oz didn't tell us till we were trying to figure out what to do with the civilians.

“We split the team. I went with Ruby, the girls, and Oscar while Ren, Nora, and Jaune stayed back to cover the negative emotions. After separating the train, our half ended up crashing. Maria had followed us because she had spotted Ruby, picking up on how special she is.”

“From just a glance?”

Qrow snorted. “You have no idea, but I’ll get there.”

“The train crashed, we had an argument about what to do next, and then all the shit about Oz and Salem came to light when Oscar said Oz was trying to stop us from asking Jinn a question. Ruby’s the one who did it, and Jinn pulled us all into a vision. By the end, I snapped. I was furious. All those damn years and he lied to me.”

Qrow’s voice cracked, and he took in a breath, trying not to let tears fall. There was still so much left, and he knew if he started crying now, he would not be able to stop.

“I wasn’t thinking straight, and, in my anger, I took it out on Oscar. Oz was still in his body at the time, and uh…” Qrow rubbed a hand over his face. “Clocked him right on the jaw. He didn’t come back after that…”

“Damn,” Clover said, and Qrow laughed, never having heard the strait-laced Ace Op curse. It didn’t ease the pain of the moment, but it did lift Qrow’s spirits.

“I drank through my flask and got so drunk. We wandered for some time, and eventually, a storm started coming in. I thought we got lucky. We found a farm out in the middle of nowhere where hopefully the people would be kind and let us crash in their barn or something.

“It was a ghost town and when we started searching for answers… they were not good. The whole place dead in their beds. The cold kept them from decaying, so it was hard to tell how long. Oscar found the old man’s journal, and I found a basement full of booze.”

“Qrow,” Clover said, a grim line of sorrow marred his face.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. It was bad, but at the time, I was not thinking about them. It was just more shit on the already shit of a life. I was not in a good place.” Qrow took a deep breath, letting the crisp Atlas air clear his head. “The Grimm were called Apathy. They uh… affect your mood, make it, so you don’t want to fight back or do anything really. The old man of the farm thought he could wrangle a few and put them under, or uh, in the well, figuring he could better persuade everyone else. He didn’t account for the rest of them to follow.”

“How many?”

“Hundreds I would figure.”

Clover made a distressed noise, and Qrow bowed his head in shame.

“I was already sloshed, so I don’t really know what happened in-between and I might have put things in the wrong order because shitty drunk memory, but I remember Weiss and Ruby lighting the bar on fire and dragging me out of there.”

Qrow remembered the flames as the licked around the edges of the building and into the sky. The heat scorching the air and melting surrounding snow. The pit in his stomach when the realization dawned on him.

“Anyways, we got out of there thanks to Ruby and uh, made it to Argus. Shit went down in Argus, as I’m sure you read in the report. Ruby gave me an ultimatum. They didn’t need me, but they would like to have me if I, you know… I quit on the flight over. Emptied my flask out when we landed, and the rest is kind of history.” He trailed off, hand rubbing at his forever five o’clock stubble. He glanced over to Clover to gauge his reaction, but he was looking out over Atlas clearly still contemplating everything Qrow had just divulged.

Qrow’s heart started to race, and his throat constricted. Maybe he shouldn’t have dumped all that on Clover. They barely even knew each other, and though Clover had offered him support in the past, that had only been a fleeting sentence here or there. Nothing like this.

“Listen, I don’t want your pity or anything…”

Clover turned to face him, a knot forming in his brow. Qrow could not hold his gaze. He felt too exposed.

“Qrow, can I, uh… can I give you a hug?”

Qrow looked back at him, eyes wide and vulnerable. He swallowed thickly, “Uh, sure.” 

Clover grabbed Qrow’s shoulder and pulled him in close, wrapping his arms around Qrow’s frame with ease. The warmth that emanated from his core and surrounded Qrow, reminding him so much of Tai at that moment, Qrow struggled against completely collapsing in his arms.

“You are so strong Qrow, despite all the setbacks, and you’ve made it here, not to Atlas, but to a place where you can open up about the things you went through. That is healing, and you’ve come so far in just a short amount of time, so don’t doubt yourself. I can see the work you’ve done, and so can Ruby and the rest of the kids.”

Shuddering, Qrow let out a gasp, willing the tears not to come. He did not want to cry in this man’s arms. He felt a hand brush through his hair as Clover shifted, pulling away.

“It’s not pity I feel when I see you, Qrow,” Clover whispered in the air between them. He traced a thumb over the edge of Qrow’s jaw, eyes following the movement.

Clover’s hand shifted, pushing back the fringe of bangs at his forehead. With his heart in his throat, Qrow froze as Clover leaned in, warm breath brushing across his nose and down his cheeks.

“I see strength, not just physical, but mental. I see a light that drives you, and it encourages those around you, though you may not know it.” Clover paused, shifting further, and brought his mouth to Qrow’s forehead. The gentle press of warm lips grounded Qrow and he felt his trembling limbs relax. Clover pulled back, looking him in the eye, and said, “I feel a drive. A want to do better. Be better. So, don’t count yourself short and think your only worth pity.”

“Thanks,” Qrow said, steadily meeting his gaze. His heart felt lighter than when he had first sat out on this balcony alone. Qrow awkwardly pulled away from Clover’s warmth and scratched at the back of his neck.

“Um,” he uttered, trying to think of where to go next with the conversation.

“So, a professor?” Clover asked, eyes tracking Qrow’s face. 

“Shut up.”

“I would definitely like to hear about that one. I can see it now that you’ve brought it up.” Clover said, grinning back at him.

“Another time, shamrock.”


End file.
